FRANKFURT, Aug 4 German drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA lifted its full-year earnings forecast on Thursday, thanks in part to a boost in demand for its Gonal-f fertility treatment after the recall of a rival product in the United States.
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Net sales were EUR3.8 billion, up 18% from EUR3.2 billion in the same period past year. Sales at the company’s biggest business, its pharmaceuticals unit, have been weighed down by the stronger United States dollar and rising competition for its top-selling medicine, Rebif.
Second-quarter adjusted EBITDA for the group rose 29 percent to 1.16 billion euros, slightly above the average estimate of 1.1 million euros by analysts in a Reuters poll. Ebitda before special items will climb to €4.25 billion to 4.4 billion, instead of the earlier forecast of €4.1 billion to €4.3 billion.
Further, Merck looks forward to a $2 billion-collaboration deal with Pfizer Inc.to develop cancer therapies to help lift its growth next year, when the initial treatment is anticipated to reach patients, ending a 10-year deficiency in new medicines at the pharmaceutical company.
Just as peer Bayer (BAYRY) announced last week, healthcare, where products include top-selling multiple sclerosis drug Rebif, outshone Merck’s chemicals businesses.
Merck KGaA (MKGAY.PK) reported that its net income for the second-quarter declined 9.1 percent to 312 million euros, from the prior year’s 343 million euros, reflecting a sharp increase in the negative financial result stemming mainly from the long-term share-based variable compensation program, whose value increased due to the favorable development of the Merck share price in the second quarter of 2016.
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“We again achieved everything we aimed for in the second quarter”.
